Edmonton Triathlon Academy CEO Sheila O'Kelly "had to embark on a global journey" to bring the 2014 Int'l Triathlon Union's world championship to Edmonton, Canada, according to Chris Oleary of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. From Auckland, New Zealand to Edmonton, "with all of the appropriate letters crossed and dotted," O’Kelly and some academy representatives, along with city officials, "zigged over to Madrid, Spain, where they made a presentation to ITU officials" on Friday and Saturday. With the ITU’s approval, they "zagged back home faster than you can say 'jet lag' in Spanish." The official date is not nailed down yet, but O'Kelly "expects the race to in early September." The event is budgeted to cost C$5M ($4.99M), with the city contributing C$2M and the rest coming from corporate sponsors and the other two levels of government. Work "to upgrade Hawrelak Park’s lake to ITU standards will cost the city" C$1.23M. The city said in a release that the event’s "estimated economic impact" is C$16M. A worldwide TV audience of 21 million, spanning 160 countries, "is expected" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 1/28).

FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke warned that the organization "would not tolerate" any more delays in stadium construction, according to PORTAL 2014. Six Confederations Cup venues were scheduled to be finished in December, but only two were actually finished by the deadline. Valcke said, "I would have preferred that the deadlines were met and that the stadiums were ready in December 2012, as planned. By consensus we agreed to postpone that date to April so we still have time. But it will no longer be possible to be late" (PORTAL 2014, 1/28). XINHUA noted the two stadiums that were finished by the deadline were Fortaleza's Castelao and Belo Horizonte's Mineirao Stadium. Valcke added, "As of today we have 500 days ahead of us until the World Cup begins," Valcke said. "We must work together as hard as we can to achieve our goals. We are well on our way" (XINHUA, 1/29).

The Gala des deutschen Eishockeys (Gala of German Hockey) will take place in Augsburg. The German Hockey League (DEL) will announce the DEL Players of the Year as well as the new inductees into the Hall Of Fame Deutschland at Augsburg's Kälberhalle on March 16 (DEL). ... Local media reported "Indonesia is lobbying Southeast Asian Games organizers to add badminton to the competition schedule" (XINHUA, 1/29). ... More than 20 public and private organizations have registered to join the celebrations for the 2013 National Sport Day, to be held in Doha and across Qatar on Feb. 12 (GULF TIMES, 1/28). ... The WTA revealed that three cities remain in the bidding process for the WTA Championships for '14 and beyond. WTA Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster will visit the three remaining cities: Monterrey, Mexico; Singapore; and Tianjin, China over the next couple months (WTA).